Cry of the Fox
by Rixas
Summary: [AU] [The baby needed the mother fox, and most of all, the mother fox needed the baby] Kyuubi's mate finds and adopts Naruto as her 'kit', not knowing he is the Kyuubi's vessel. However, when Naruto returns to Konoha, can he be accepted? NaruHina
1. Chapter One: Life and Death

I felt bored. And the need to write a Naruto AU was great. So here it is.

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Chapter One: Life and Death

A swish of the red fluffy tail popped up near the corner of the dark street, a street that was nearly destroyed. Bodies of the deceased strewn all over the place, and trees knocked down. Blood was in every imaginable place, and people were no where to be seen. The moon shone bright, milky white and illuminating the dark alleys. The figure limped, moaning deeply in a growl, as it tried to escape the inevitable. It finally collapsed in a small patch of grass near a small house, its breathing harsh and more sporadic with every second passing by.

_I hear him._

_Your mate harks to me, in a unknown place, a place of darkness and being contained._

The moon finally shone on the injured figure and it showed a bleeding fox, eyes squeezed close, gritting its teeth in anger, weariness and sadness.

_You wish to give birth? It cannot be done. It's a futile attempt. All your kits will die! Maybe...you'll die!_

Although nothing- or anyone- was even around the laboring fox, the fox weakly nodded its head, barely holding it up. The body started to shiver, shaking from labor and dug its claws into the dirt to latch onto something as she pushed, the life being squeezed out of the poor fox. With every howl, the fox felt Death approaching her, watching her writhe in pain from labor and lashes from being hit with weapons and other items. The fox knew the baby wouldn't live through and gave it one last push, a huge gasp of breath escaping the hurting mother fox.

Writhing and in immediate danger, the squirming baby fox, eyes oddly open, even though it was just a newborn. The mother fox looked at the baby and limped away, leaving the baby kit by itself.

A loud, unearthly cry could be heard, a cry for a mother for it to suckle on, to cuddle near. The eyes grew a bloody red, as one last cry was heard and then it became so quiet, the silence overtook any other sounds. Cricket's chirps died, bugs stopped crawling in the dark undergrowth and the raccoons stopped digging through garbage and all became deadly silence.

That night, Death would've taken another prize beside the newborn kit, but the mother fox had barely escaped Death's clutches by leaving behind the kit, the mother fox hung its head in shame. It was forced to practice infanticide, just like what the mother fox had done for her previous newborns.

All the mother fox wanted was a baby. Her mate had up and gone, the one that had sired many of her unsuccessful kits. The bleeding fox, caked with dirt, blood and her own feces and urine, was about to give up. She would never be a mother, and she would die. What was the point of living if nothing else was living for her to take care of, to nurture?

She collapsed again, relaxing her body, and about to let Death take her. The mother fox accepted her fate, and stopped breathing.

Something wasn't right. The mother fox opened her eyelid weakly, scanning the darkness. A sound, a sound eerily familiar to her dead kit, it alarmed the mother fox. She now opened her other eye, and her ears perked up, listening to the sound once more, taking it in. An infant's cry. A cry that was so much alike to the kit that she gave birth to. She tried to get up, her bleeding leg limp and practically useless. The cry of the baby was closer, and she tried to limp as fast as she could to the sound, a small hope increasing in size and overwhelmed the mother fox. Her maternal instincts took over, following the cry. She couldn't ignore the crying of the baby.

The baby was in a small dirt patch, in a small blue blanket, crying for its mother. When the mother fox approached the baby, at first, the fox was frightened.

It was one of those who walked on two feet, the ones who...nearly killed her mate and took him away from her. The fox felt spite and animosity, wanting to rip the bay into shreds and eat it but then it stopped.

The baby cried, the cry that made the mother fox snap out of her anger and loathing, and then came the return of the maternal instincts, crushing the evil feelings that the mother fox had shown for the baby.

The mother fox, although hurt and in pain, bit into the blanket, and started to drag the baby behind her, although making the baby cry even louder because it was being moved and its head bobbed along the bumpy and desecrated road.

The mother fox felt as if she had a new purpose, as if the baby had been placed there by chance, a fateful meeting, to redeem the childless mother fox, a reason for the mother fox to live, a baby to love and care for and to turn over a new leaf and start being the mother that she had never been able to be. A baby that would certainly not die, and the mother fox would be the shield for her baby, a shield to protect her new baby from the unknown perils and evils of the outside world.

The baby needed her and most of all, the mother fox needed the baby.


	2. Chapter Two: Kit

Wow! Thanks all for the reviews :) Let's get a couple things out of the way. Kyuubi's mate? Shall be referred to now and forever as "Mother Fox". Naruto? Until _someone_ figures out who he is, he shall be called "Kit". Third, I am a bit stuck about pairings. Ideas and suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Although I think it may be a NaruHina fic (overly done but...), I would love to know what you think. Thanks! And enjoy!

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Chapter Two: Kit

--

_Thirteen years later_

_--_

He licked his hand, savoring the last bits and crumbs of his dinner: fresh fish from the stream. He smiled, swirling his tongue around the sides of his slightly chapped lips, finishing his meal. Mother Fox also completed her fish, full and no longer hungry. Kit smiled, his bright blue eyes full of life and content. His blond, spiky hair was a little brown from dirt and was rather flat. He brushed back a few stray strands and yawned. Kit was tired, the fish filling up his belly.

Mother Fox closed her eyes in happiness. She couldn't believe it, and according to her internal clock, it was nearing the day where she found Kit, her adopted son. It had been so long, watching him first catch a fish, climb a tree and all his other firsts. It seemed like yesterday where Mother Fox had found the crying, lonely baby swaddled in a blue blanket.

Of course, Kit didn't even know he was abandoned. He thought he was a fox. For all he knew, he was just...different. Mother Fox sniffed him, rubbing her head against his arm, a sign of motherly love. Kit rubbed his mother's head, smiling back.

However, it got a bit harder for Mother Fox to keep Kit closer to her. No matter how much she wanted to deny it, he was still one of those who walked on two legs. She promised herself that she would shield him from those who walked on two legs, the ones who had taken her mate away from her. The mate that, although cursed her to never have children, was hurled away from her.

Yes, the demonic fox that she was in love with. Mother Fox was a younger, more naive vixen at the time, not knowing the potential and scary power of him. She hadn't known about the curse that affected the mate of the nine tailed demon fox, the evil curse afflicted to vixens, prohibiting them to have children, to have a litter. Mother Fox was so young...and innocent. No matter how evil he was, destroying towns, killing and causing havoc, he did love one thing. He loved her.

Kit beckoned her attention, snapping Mother Fox out of her daze. She looked up at him, speaking to him with her almond colored eyes.

_I love you, Kit. You're such a good son to me._

Kit grinned toothily, his white teeth a little stained from blood from ripping the fish's skin. He laid back, Mother Fox snuggled near him, as he yawned a big yawn and started to doze off, soft snores could be heard. Mother Fox opened one eye, observing her sleeping son. They were in their small den, Kit's head on a small growth of moss. Mother Fox opened her other eye, not being able to sleep.

It was becoming darker, the sun fading away and the sky turning from a dark blue into an inky purple. Mother Fox's heart was unsteady. It was getting closer.

Kit was strong son, Mother Fox knew. He had taken care of her, making sure she never get hurt, hunting for food, building a den for the two of them. He was more fox like than she was, sometimes. He sometimes even walked on all fours, which, secretly, made Mother Fox smile. However, he was still one of those who walked on two legs.

_He won't ever leave me, my son. I have taught him to be like me. He won't ever be those who walked on two legs who took my mate away from me. He was abandoned by his own kind, so why would he want to return?_

The thought of her only kit, the only thing she ever had close to a living kit, hurt her heart. Eventually, Mother Fox drifted away slowly, her mind rested easy. The problems faded away as she started to sleep.

--

**_My mate...she is near..._**

**_It's been sooo long..._**

**_Does she know? Am I dead to her?_**

--

Kit turned and tossed in his sleep. He felt his stomach churn, vomit creeping up his throat, and it hurt. Kit held it back, he always hated the taste of vomit. He moaned, not a human moan but like an animal. He balled up his fist; the pain was starting to get to him, and he couldn't hold it off.

Mother Fox immediately awoke. In the darkness, she sensed pain. Her son! Mother Fox laid a paw on his chest, hoping to ease her son. Even her paw couldn't soothe this shaking boy.

Kit gritted his teeth, the pain was reaching towards his head.

Mother Fox backed away, a little frightened of what was happening to her kit. Something wasn't right. She felt the air grow with a weird air...an oddly familiar air. Mother Fox looked around, scanning the darkness.

_It can't be...no...it's not. This is all too familiar..._

Kit then stopped shaking and the air floated away, Kit now calm and started to sleep again, his seizures over. Mother Fox walked over to Kit, and licked him, a sign of assurance, like a kiss on a scratch to make the pain go away.

If only that lick could've prevented further problems.

--


	3. Chapter Three: Found!

Ummm...okay. I guess no one has suggested anything. However, it would be nice to know what kind of pairing should be in the fic. I am thinking of either NaruHina or NaruTen, but I still have time. Well...that's all! Enjoy!

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Chapter Three: Found!

Kit was cornered. His heart beat so loud, he thought they could hear it outside his body. His knees knocked together, a sign he was getting more nervous and more afraid by the second.

"Oh, so you thought you could get away, huh freak?" His unforgiving red eyes burrowed into his, and spat on the ground near Kit. Mother Fox was being beaten by another guy, a fat guy, getting hit by a club. Kit clenched his fists and felt that same, familiar pain in his stomach as he did the other night.

"M...Mama!" Kit roared, catching the attention of the fat guy torturing Mother Fox.

The red eyed man was taken aback for a second, confused and stunned at what had just happened.

"He knows how to talk?" "Is he...?" Murmurs flowed in and out of the guys' mouths, as Kit stood there, no longer shaking, and his teeth were clenched just as tight as his fists, and felt the hairs on his neck stand up and tingled his skin.

Mother Fox, although injured and somewhat bleeding, looked at her son. She felt that same peculiat air, like the other night when Kit was convulsing and having seizures. Her almond colored eyes widened.

Something bad was going to happen.

--

_Earlier that day..._

_--_

Mother Fox was relaxing in her den. Her bones were so weak, and her fur no longer shone like it did when she was younger. She was already old for a fox, almost thirty years old, and Mother Fox never knew of any other foxes who ever lived as long.

Then again, she was no ordinary fox. After all, she was Kyuubi's mate.

Kit came in, holding a flopping, alive fish in is hands, smiling big. It was his biggest yet, and the bigger the fish, the tastier it was. He made sure the fish was dead by waiting a couple of minutes, then placed it on a smooth, flat rock. Gutting it out and getting the good chunks of meat out, Mother Fox was proud of her son.

After preparing, he divided up the meat and gave the most to his mother, and leaving the rest for himself. Mother Fox got up, and walked over to her food and started to eat.

_He's so good to me. Taking care of me so well, and not forgetting me..._

Kit wiped his mouth with his hand, as he smiled, his bright blue eyes shining. Mother Fox always loved those eyes of his. He then stretched out his arms, and stood up on two feet, something that he didn't do very often. He looked at Mother Fox, and then looked outside the den. He wanted to explore.

_Just...don't stray too far,_ Mother Fox said with her eyes. Kit smiled, and continuing to walk on two legs, he left the den, and crossed over the river. Mother Fox felt uneasy about Kit exploring. She was always afraid someone would find him.

_It's safe out here. No one will find Kit. _

While thinking of it, another scary and inevitable question popped inside Mother Fox's head. She hated when it came across her mind.

_What will happen to Kit...when I...when I go? Can he...survive by himself? Will he venture to that evil place that kicked him out, that abandoned him? I even know he will one day be curious about the village, but certainly he won't..._

Mother Fox looked down at the ground, and tried to get the thought out of her mind. She then tried to relax and try to take a nap. Also assuring herself Kit would never go out that far.

--

Kit was on top of a tree branch when he saw it. It was so...big. It was huge! He looked closer, making sure he still kept gripping on to a smaller branch or else he'd fall down. It wa so weird how he'd never noticed it before.

Kit cocked his head to the side, confused. What was that place? Would Mother Fox allow him to go there? It was filled with strange animals, bipeds. Like he when he walked up right. He looked closer, but he couldn't see as well. They looked like little dots.

Curiosity stirred in him, his insatiable appetite of knowing what out of the forest over took him, and he jumped out of the tree, landing on his two feet. He walked, until he stopped. Mother Fox wouldn't allow him...would she? Kit wanted to see that place, but..

Kit bit his lip, a sign of thinking.

He continued walking again, his curiosity growing with every step. After about a mile of walking, he sat down, and viewed the place. It had weird dens. Not like his at all, but they were bigger and not made of the same material. He walked closer when he froze.

Something was approaching. He immediately picked up the pace, hiding behind a bush. He peered over the bush, and he saw two of those who walked on two legs, a little one and a taller one. The little one was extremely small, Kit thought that maybe that little one was the offspring of the taller one.

"Mama!" The little one clapped its hands, a smile growing. The taller one, smiled too and cuddled the little one.

Then it hit Kit.

That was a little one of those who walked on two legs and it had a mother. Like Kit. Sorta.

"M...M...Ma-ma. Mama!" Kit whispered to himself. The sound made his tongue feel funny and wondered if Mother Fox had heard that sound before.

"Hey look what we have here?" a deep, masculine voice appeared over Kit.

Kit heard something, and it didn't sound like anything he heard. He felt himself freeze as he turned around, facing the voice. It was a duo of those who walked on two legs, a fat one and a skinny, lanky one. He felt stiff in fright.

"Hey, look Itsume, he's practically naked, save for those shorts," said the fatter one, spite in his tone.

Kit felt alone. He didn't know what tongue they were speaking, and he wanted to run away, run back to Mother Fox. However, the duo had other plans.

"Hey, Gawaro, what do you think we should do to this intruder?" Itsume had on a devious grin, a grin that grimaced Kit.

"Hey, kid, what's your name?" Gawaro demanded, getting his face up in Kit's.

Kit couldn't understand. He felt himself pushing into the bush, its leaves poking into his skin. If Mother Fox was here, she'd bite those two strangers to death and Kit wouldn't ever go out past the den ever again.

"Kid? Your name? Are you deaf or something?" Itsume copied Gawaro's demand, locking eyes with Kit. Kit got up, and started to run. However, Itsume caught up to him, and grabbed him by the shoulder tightly, Kit cringing in pain.

He then saw a red tail, and his hopes lit up. Mother Fox!

_Mama!_

Mother Fox, growled at Itsume and Gawaro, scratching Itsume and for a split second, Kit was free from Itsume's grasp. He fell, immobilized for a second and then got up. He looked for Mother Fox, who had gotten him out of that one's clutches. However, the sight he saw made him freeze up again.

Mother Fox was hanging by the tail of Gawaro, in another hand holding a big, chunky club. Kit gaped. Unfortunately, he couldn't stare anymore as Itsume blocked his view and was about five inches away from him, an evil look in his eyes.

Kit was cornered. His heart beat so loud, he thought they could hear it outside his body. His knees knocked together, a sign he was getting more nervous and more afraid by the second.

"Oh, so you thought you could get away without a beating, huh freak?" His unforgiving red eyes burrowed into his, and spat on the ground near Kit. Mother Fox was being beaten by another guy, the fat one, getting hit by a club. Kit clenched his fists and felt that same, familiar pain in his stomach as he did the other night.

"M...Mama!" Kit roared, catching the attention of the fat guy torturing Mother Fox. Gawaro stopped hitting Mother Fox and dropped her carelessly, Mother Fox bleeding on the ground.

The red eyed man was taken aback for a second, confused and stunned at what had just happened.

"He knows how to talk?" "Is he...?" Murmurs flowed in and out of the guys' mouths, as Kit stood there, no longer shaking, and his teeth were clenched just as tight as his fists, and felt the hairs on his neck stand up and tingled his skin.

Mother Fox, although injured and somewhat bleeding, looked at her son. She felt that same peculiat air, like the other night when Kit was convulsing and having seizures. Her almond colored eyes widened.

Something bad was going to happen.


	4. Chapter Four: Identity Unleashed?

Uhm...yeah. Yup, this fic shall be a NaruHina one. Well, not much to say. Here's chapter four (wonders if anyone is ever going to review)

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Chapter Four: Identity...Unleashed?

**_How dare they hurt my mate! They shall die for this!_**

Kit felt his blood boil as he felt a weird change transforming him into something else. Itsume and Gawaro looked in utter horror, walking back a couple of steps.

"Hey, hey, kid? What's...going on here?" Gawaro had fear in his voice.

Kit collapsed onto the ground, convulsing and shaking. Mother Fox's fur stood on ends as her tail went between her legs. Something was wrong, and she didn't know what to do.

"Mama! Mama!" Kit roared, his blue eyes replaced by bloodthirsty red eyes, and he felt his already long nails go sharp and claw like and his teeth also became bigger and sharper. Itsume's mouth dropped as he skedaddled, leaving Gawaro behind.

"Itsume! Don't even think about leaving me! I-,"

Kit had bitten him on the arm, his teeth sinking into his skin.

Gawaro had tears in his eyes, snot running down from his nose to his lip.

"D-Don't hurt me, kid!" Gawaro pleaded.

Mother Fox was observing this, frozen in shock and horror. She had seen this type of bloodlust before, but...

_Your mate harks to me, in a unknown place, a place of darkness and being contained._

She didn't want to believe it. It was wrong, all wrong, she'd never even think of that possibility. How could he be inside her son? Unless it was some type of magic from those who walked on two legs...yes, the magic they did.

However, she didn't want her son to kill, and she forced to bite him also.

Kit gritted his teeth in pain, Mother Fox feeling guilty about biting him. It was the only way to revert him back to his regular form, as his red eyes turned back into a blue. His back was bleeding. Gawaro stared at his bleeding arm, stumbled and ran off, leaving behind Mother Fox and Kit.

Before Kit could turn around and face Mother Fox, something sharp shot into his arm, and he felt dizzy. After a minute or two stumbling on his feet, he fell, unconscious and not moving. Mother Fox immediately saw a group of those who walked on two legs, one having blonde hair and brown eyes, her gaze serious. Unfortunately, Mother Fox couldn't do anything, already feeling weak from being tortured, collapsed onto the ground and watched the people take her son away.

_Not again...no matter what, my kit is always taken! Damn those who walk on two legs!_

If looked at closely, a small tear formed at the corner of her old, weary eyes. She needed rest. She could follow his scent later, as she curled up and started to sleep.

--

Kit stirred, feeling groggy and weak. He opened one eye; he was on the floor in an unknown place. He stood up, his hands free, not bound. He looked around, confused. Where was he?

"Oh, I was just waiting for you to wake up," a feminine voice said, as Kit looked around. It sounded like gibberish, like what those who walked on legs talked like.

"Oh...right. You don't speak, do you? I guess not. I mean, you've been living in that forest for what...thirteen years now?" she asked, twiddling with her fingers. Kit looked at her, a young woman it appeared.

"Well...I know who you are, even if you don't know. You are Uzumaki Naruto."

Naruto cocked his head to the side. That sound...it sounded very intriging.

"You...just stay here, Naruto. I'll come back in a little bit," the blonde haired woman left Naruto all by himself, which surprisingly, he didn't try to run out of the room or anything. he just sat there on the floor, observing his surroundings. It felt cool in here.

--

"You...what?" a young woman by the name of Shizune stared at Tsunade.

"Yes. I found him attacking two of our villagers, and it's obvious _he's_ the one who was abandoned thirteen years ago," Tsunade explained.

"Tsunade...he was abandoned...for a reason, right? He's been cut off from society too long, and who knows what he might do," Shizune asked, confused.

Tsunade shrugged, smiled lightly and replied,

"Well...he's certainly full of surprises. Plus, we need him, especially what's happening now."


End file.
